Several B2C financial firms have taken content marketing to new heights. However, in the B2B area, the financial firms have been a bit slower to invest their time and efforts into content-driven experiences. Although businesses that are willing to adopt new B2B content marketing strategies and are prepared to find ways to engage with their audience are sure to gain considerable benefits from B2B content marketing.
Financial firms may be missing the connection
Econsultancy and Adobe recently generated a report stating that the financial services and insurance companies (FSIs) were liable to prioritize B2B content marketing than other sectors. Actually, content marketing was considered a top priority by 17% of FSIs compared to other 26% of firms in other sectors. However, FSIs mainly focus on the customer experience and almost 28% of FSI identify it as one of the best opportunities for any organization compared to other sectors.
Undoubtedly, there is always a dispute when the customer experience is considered as a high priority, but content marketing as low. Without having an appropriate strategy for B2B content marketing, B2B financial firms are always under the risk of missing opportunities to attract and engage with their potential customers.
Apprehension about risk may delay participation
Have you ever wondered why the B2B financial firms seem to have less interest in content marketing? Well, one major factor that might be holding them back could be the unwillingness to be the first one to set the precedent. The B2C financial firms are connecting with millennials with amazing content hubs, where they see big celebrities sharing their perspective, and thrive on the attention. However, in the B2B space, there are only a few companies that are brave enough to approach content, and it’s extremely difficult to be the first one in an industry to try something different.
Another factor could be an opinion that content marketing comes with several risks in this highly regulated industry. The major requirement for content marketing is to explore a plethora of topics and to provide useful and engaging information to your readers, and you need to have the ability to share as well as express sometimes differing opinions. As there are more chances to govern the content, in the same way, there are more chances to create a blunder, which is terrifying for companies, especially those who are stuck in the safe territory of only advertising their products and services the old fashioned way.
Delayed participation creates risk
When companies can take a risk to promote their products and services on big platforms, they should be brave enough to take risks in B2B content marketing as well. B2B audiences are starved for content. BrightFunnel published a report in 2015 that highlighted the data from 2014 to 2015, showing the number of marketing contacts required to close a B2B deal, which has jumped by 52%. The buyers want to conduct their own research. Forrester estimates that 90% of customers want to self-manage their own sales journey before contacting a salesperson. To be part of this marketing conversation, companies should produce efficient content that drives their buyers to them.
While looking towards the demands of the customers, B2B has a great reason to adopt content marketing, and the increasing completion in the promotion sector is another. Content marketing institute came out with another statistic that states 78% of financial marketers are using content marketing and the B2B financial firms have been slower. The firms that have held them back from this effective strategy are likely to edge out their competitors.
Content marketing recommendations for B2B financial firms
If you are looking for plans to invest your time and effort in content marketing, here are some suggestions for you:
Start with the basics
The first and foremost step in the field of content marketing is to have a solid foundation to build your market. Having avant-garde and also validated roles in place will help you to produce effective content that will meet the needs of your customers and will also help you to build a solid engagement with them. You need to stay ahead of your competition by producing informational content for your buyers. Once you are able to identify the market needs, you will know where you need to focus your content marketing efforts.
Get ready to “rock”
Producing content that can boost your engagement with your customers is the first goal for efficient content marketing. A big rock is considered a valuable piece of content that provides a deeper analysis of particular topics, it is usually an informational material that’ll provide a comprehensive exploration on a specific topic. This is a good and productive way to demonstrate the credibility of the firm that is broken up into smaller pieces which creates a pipeline of your content and boosts your cadence as well as drive engagement.
Think laterally
Due to the strict rules and regulation in the industry, most of the financial firms are pretty shy about generating content. However, some of them have overcome these issues by focusing on the corresponding topics that don’t clearly cover financial matters. Most of the financial firms are willing to communicate, but their focus is on regulating promotions of their products and services. By focusing on trends and ideas, you can step aside from restrictions and create accurate content that delivers the value to the customers.
Read more about Marketing for Accountants here.